Japanese Stock Futures Dive as Komeito Breaks Off Coalition

Tokyo, Oct. 10 (Jiji Press)–Japanese stock index futures plummeted on the Osaka Exchange on Friday after Komeito announced a decision the same day to dissolve the party’s coalition with the nation’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The positive mood that has supported the stock market since Sanae Takaichi, an advocate of an expansionary fiscal policy, was elected LDP president last Saturday was reversed by Komeito’s decision. The market was also hit by selling amid a sense of overheating following its recent rapid rise. On the Tokyo stock market Friday, profit-taking spread from the morning ahead of a three-day weekend, sending the benchmark Nikkei average tumbling to end at 48,088.80, down 491.64 points from the previous day. The news on Komeito’s decision to dissolve the coalition came after the close of the day’s cash stock market, and the most actively traded December futures contract on the Nikkei average plunged 1,180 points to 47,620 on the Osaka Exchange. “Stock index futures were sold due to worries that political stability, which has underpinned the stock market, may collapse” following the move by Komeito, an official at an asset management firm said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]